Last years’ end state was horrible; the Portland Timbers, returning MLS Champions, missed the playoffs. Not good; especially when 60% of the teams in your Conference make the playoffs. Clearly changes needed to be made. Notable midfield additions include David Guzman, Sebastian Blanco, and the return of Dairon Asprilla. On the defensive side, where the Timbers had […]

For most, the hot topic/question for the Timbers is… What to do about Luca? For me, it’s certainly a short-term concern, but I’d submit there’s a longer term question that still needs to be answered that far outweighs what to do about Luca. To explain, if you will. The Timbers have seen the trees […]

CAN IT BE DONE? Over the last four years I’ve conducted research on various professional soccer leagues and competitions. To include Major League Soccer, the English, German, and Spanish Premier Leagues, as well as the UEFA Champions League and the Men’s World Cup of 2014. Here’s my latest analyses on how the Possession with Purpose […]

Portland Timbers travel to Colorado for the first time this year and the challenge for both teams is finding the right balance between attacking and defending. In their last league home game the Timbers struggled in the first half – not unlike their US Open Cup match as well. If not for an untimely hand-ball by David […]

In perhaps their best team performance all year the Portland Timbers defeated the San Jose Earthquakes, in the fourth round of the US Open Cup, at Providence Park last night 2 – nil. I don’t offer that lightly – the Timbers have struggled on both sides of the ball this year – not only in finishing chances […]

When week three of Major League Soccer closed the Portland Timbers were 14th worst in overall team performance – that has changed – but not for the better! Portland are now 16th worst in overall team performance – taking into account how well (and how well their opponent’s) possess, pass, penetrate, create, and score goals. […]

There’s no question the pain of losing Darlington Nagbe, for us supporters, is nowhere near the physical pain Nagbe experienced as a result of that brutal tackle by Nigel de Jong! I get it and the discipline handed out by MLS will come nowhere near what it should be – however long Darlington is out […]

Some pundits have offered that it’s probably to early to worry; I completely disagree. At no point in the last four years of tracking possession with purpose have the Timbers been so low on this Index: Some may scoff at the reference to my Index, so early in the season, but in my most recent […]

This should have been the repeat headline from last week – and thankfully the last week headline wasn’t a repeat this week! I’ll be the first (probably 100th though) person to congratulate the players on their performance yesterday – well done lads! Now the grist – with the caveat “I’m still frustrated”! It’s my view […]

Probably the biggest leader in soccer analytics (Prozone Sports) have released two products in the last year, or so, that should begin to change the landscape of soccer statistics. I applaud their actions but I’m still not convinced they scratch the right itch, or least my question; what are the best statistics available to better understand […]